Dietary rutin improves breast meat quality in heat-stressed broilers and protects mitochondria from oxidative attack via the AMPK/PINK1–Parkin pathway

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary rutin on the meat quality, antioxidant status and mitochondrial structure and function in the breast muscle of heat-stressed broilers. A total of 192 male broilers were randomly assigned into three groups and treated with normal control (CON), heat stress (34 °C, HS), and HS with 500 mg kg −1 rutin supplementation (HS + Rutin), respectively. RESULTS Dietary rutin significantly reversed HS-induced decrease in body weight, average daily feed intake, average daily gain, and feed efficiency. Rutin supplementation attenuated HS-induced impaired meat quality by decreasing the lightness, drip loss at 24 and 48 h, the peak time of free water ( T 22 ) and the peak area ratio of free water ( P 22 ), and increasing the pH 24h and peak area ratio of immobilized water ( P 21 ). Rutin supplementation promoted superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase activities and total antioxidant capacity, and decreased malondialdehyde levels compared with the HS group. Moreover, rutin attenuated HS-induced mitochondrial damage by increasing the mitochondrial DNA copy number and improving mitochondrial morphology. Dietary rutin significantly increased mitochondrial biogenesis-related mRNA (proliferator-activated γ receptor coactivator-1α [PGC-1α], nuclear respiratory factor 1 [NRF1], and mitochondrial transcription factor A [TFAM]) expression via the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway. HS significantly increased mitophagy-related genes and proteins (Parkin, PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 [PINK1], microtubule associated protein light chain 3-II [LC3-II]) expression, and dietary rutin significantly reversed these alterations. CONCLUSION Dietary rutin attenuated the HS-induced decline in meat quality and antioxidant capacity of broilers, which may be related to inhibition of the AMPK/PINK1–Parkin signaling pathway to attenuate mitochondrial damage. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.